Customized Homebrew (or Any Brew) Cupcakes

The popularity of homebrewing -- not only in San Diego, but in America -- was displayed during last month's American Homebrewers Association National Homebrewers Conference, a sellout event that took place at the Town and Country Resort. Like any craftsmen, homebrewers are extremely proud of the beers they produce and, now, there's a whole new way for them to enjoy and appreciate them: in cupcake form.

Misty Birchall (left), the founder of PubCakes, a company which produces cupcakes made using craft beers, just started offering customers the opportunity to have customizable PubCakes baked up using their very own beer (or any professionally brewed beer of their liking). The way it works is that customers tell Birchall about the flavors of their beer and the overall flavor in the finished product they're looking for. She takes it from there. Birchall charges a $40 one-time setup fee and $42 for the first dozen regular-sized cakes or two dozen miniature cakes.

From there, it's a one-week waiting game while Birchall develops and finalizes the recipe and bakes the first batch. Orders after that cost the same as any of her PubCakes ($3.50 per regular-sized cake) and need only be ordered with 72 hours advanced notice.

Less than a year in, PubCakes has already received national press and developed a niche following in the craft beer community. Innovations like this should only help keep that ball rolling.